Dream
by noneko
Summary: Movieverse. A character study of Alice Munro, from the beginning of the movie to the end.


She lives in a dream.

Everything used to be simple. In Albany and Portman Square she knew her place, knew what niceties to say, knew what time to laugh and what time to stay silent. Life was a game, and she had all the pieces. She was Alice Munro, younger sister of Cora Munro, and that was good enough for her.

Now she is lost.

It starts on the road to Fort William Henry, when their guide turns on them. Natives attack them from all sides, with guns and knives, and God, there is so much blood. When the leader of the raiding party, their former guide, turns to look at them, she knows she is going to die. Her breath comes in short pants; her eyes wide and frightened. Cora is the one who hugs her close and whispers calming words into her ears. Cora is the one who looks the Natives in the eye, daring them to come closer.

Then, everything changes. Figures burst from the woods, and the fighting begins anew. Only this time, the new attackers are saving them from the old ones. She shudders and gasps, hiding her face in her sister's skirts. It is too much for her.

When the gun smoke clears and the screams of the dying fade, their saviors turn and face them. There are three of them, two Natives and a white man. They speak. Duncan is angry. Cora is apprehensive.

She stares around dazedly, gunshots still ringing in her ears. The only thing that brings her out of her shock is the sound of the horses whinnying. She turns, and sees the younger one of the Natives, a tall man with a focused expression staring after the horses he has just set free. She runs towards him, intent on stopping his plans.

_Stop it! We need them to get out of here! _

He turns to look at her, amused. When it becomes clear that she means to go after the mounts, he gently restrains her, dark eyes boring into hers. Duncan's angry question is dampened by the forest. The man opens his mouth and matter-of-factly replies, handing Alice off to Cora and walking back towards the others.

_Too easy to track ... they can be heard for miles._

Cora pulls her away, but not before she gets a good look at the man. Tall and strong, and unlike anyone she has ever seen. She idly wonders if he is always this silent.

The names of their saviors are soon known. Nathaniel Hawkeye, the white man, tells them that they should head back. Duncan disagrees. Chingachgook is the eldest of the men, sturdy as an oak. And the youngest man is Uncas, the one who let the horses loose.

They travel onward to the fort. Alice's gaze lingers on Uncas as he scouts ahead, during the times that she can see him. He was the one that saved her from inadvertanly giving their position away, when they were camping in the burial ground. He does not speak often, but a sense of self-sufficiency emanates from him. She wonders if he thinks of her as a silly girl, bred to be nothing more than a proper English wife. When they are busy, climbing rocks and hills, she often feels his gaze upon her, as if he does not know what to think of her. And she does not know what to think of him, either.

With their arrival at the Fort comes the horrifying realization that they are in the middle of a deathtrap. Whatever grace and poise she gained back is gone, and she finds herself lying in bed, waiting for death to reach her. She feels useless and frail, alone in her father's room. When she is given the chance to get out, she takes it, leaving Duncan and Cora in her room. But nothing comes of it. She simply wanders, with no real destination, until someone tells her to go back to her room.

While she is out, she thinks she sees Hawkeye on the battlements. Uncas isn't with him. And she wonders why she notices.

It is over too soon. The men at the Fort are tired of fighting, and Alice's father gives in and surrenders. He seems resigned, so she does not ask him why. Cora seems nervous, more so than she ever has been. Hawkeye watches her constantly, and Alice is sure that Cora has feelings for the man. But he is in jail, for sedition, and it is unlikely that he will survive the journey. She does not know where Chingachgook and Uncas are.

As she packs her meager belongings in preparation to leave, and begins to make herself ready, she wonders if she will ever see Hawkeye and Uncas again. And her thoughts are melancholy, not only because of the possibility, but the fact that she cares enough about the frontier men to think about it. She is angry, pulling her brush through her tangled blond hair in frustration. She is Alice Munro, daughter of Colonel Munro. She should be hosting afternoon tea, not trudging through the wilderness. But now, after what she has been through… the wilderness seems a bit more welcoming.

That view shatters when they leave the fort, and the trees come alive with hostile Native warriors. Her nerves, delicate enough already, shatter, and she finds herself being dragged by Cora, unable to walk. Everything seems hazy; the blades flashing in the air, the smoke rising above the battle, the people running around her. She knows she _should_ be frightened, but the emotions won't come. Instead, her face is blank and cold, and her blue eyes are empty.

Uncas sees her, over the fray. She does not know how he picks her out over all the rest of the women and soldiers, but she does not question it. His broad chest fills her vision as he pulls her up, and she focuses on that, unable to concentrate on anything else. She is like a doll, beautiful and broken and frail all at once. Cora looks over at her, worried, but her attention is soon taken up by Hawkeye. Alice watches silently, but can't find it in herself to care about what this signifies about their relationship, or how the strong-willed Cora will act around the equally stubborn Hawkeye. It takes a strong person to think of those thoughts in the middle of a battle, and she was never the strong one.

She is pushed into a canoe, and she clings to it, breathing heavily and looking straight down at the dark water. Hawkeye spares her a pitying glance, and then they are off, propelling the canoe with long strokes. Once, when she gasps at a sudden turn, Uncas places his hand on her back reassuringly, then draws it away, as if the contact is too much for him. It anchors her to the present, however, and at that moment she looks at her sister, looking for some indication of what's going on. Her sister smiles grimly at her, and runs her fingers through her hair, but remains silent.

The next thing she knows, she is being carried down, into a crevice behind a waterfall. Her gaze takes in the silvery water, and for a moment, everything seems to be at peace, despite the roaring of the falls. She feels Uncas's eyes on her, and she can't help but feel a tinge of happiness amidst the fear and the anxiety of the moment. She doesn't know why, but Uncas makes her feel safe; a presence of strength and stability in a weak and unsteady world. An anchor in her empty mind.

She knows there is still danger, but she can't imagine what kind it is; she has had too little experience in the frontier to be able to do accurate guesswork. She knows that Huron are following them: allies of the French, but beyond that, they could be looking for anyone. But she is more curious than afraid: she has retreated into her mind, where there are no guns, or tomahawks, and Cora and Hawkeye and Uncas are all safe in Albany, where they belong. Where she belongs. It's safe there, sunny and green, and she sees no reason why it shouldn't be the reality. But it's not.

Cora cries out, and Alice looks over. Hawkeye is talking to her, whispering soothing words into her hair. She doesn't know what they are saying, but it is obviously bad. She slips away.

She does not know why she heads towards the entrance to their hiding place, but the water is so beautiful, both silvery and dark in the moonlight. It reminds her of the brook by the Munro house, when the water slowly trickles down the rocks, to a much larger degree. The island outside catches her eye, and she wonders if the water is as beautiful from out there. She starts to go to it, but then something happens. She feels a hand upon her arm, and she is pulled down, into the strong arms of Uncas.

She is shocked, and tries to struggle, but Uncas places his finger over his mouth and she falls silent. He looks handsome in the soft light, but there is a dangerous feeling about him, as if he is some wild animal only half tamed. He is a frontier man, through and through. Alice leans back into his arms, her hand playing idly along the lines of his chest. He tries to stop her, but his protests are half-hearted at best.

Suddenly, realization hits her like a brick. She almost gave their position away. The Huron are after them. Duncan's soldiers are lying wounded in the cave. Her breath quickens, and she begins to hyperventilate, as all of the actions of the previous day come back in gruesome detail.

It is frightening, and horrible, and she clings to the thing closest to her: Uncas. He is confused, but he holds her close, restricting her jerking movements and stifling the involuntary sounds of fear that come out of her mouth. It doesn't work. She is still afraid. Her eyes are blank.

He hugs her closer, and suddenly, it seems right to wind her arms around his neck and kiss him. He stiffens, but after she calls his name he melts, his arms moving from her shoulders to her waist.

She is dead inside, shattered from war and loss, and he is alive, and warm, and everything that she is not. She craves him, needs him, and it doesn't register in her mind that she loves him as well. The bonds of mutual hardship are strong, and they are forged stronger when she straddles him, her mouth still seeking his.

Time passes, and the world has narrowed to just the two of them. Tears begin to drip down her face, and Uncas stops, and holds her. She tries to shy away, but he is too strong. And then, underneath the waterfall, with Huron searching for them above and below, she breaks down, bearing a heart that is bruised and nerves that are shattered. She wonders if Uncas pities her.

She returns to the cave, her dress wrinkled and her hair disheveled. But no one notices. Hawkeye and Chingachgook are still on the lookout for the Huron, Cora is attending the wounded soldier, and Duncan is attending Cora. She looks around for a few moments, confused, then retreats back into a corner, where she sits, shivering, for quite some time.

Then, more confusion. The Huron are coming. Chingachgook, Hawkeye and Uncas all talk, in rapid Mohican. Cora seems to understand what is going on. Uncas glances at Alive nervously a few times during the conversation, but Alice shifts her weight uncomfortably and looks down at her skirt.

A decision is made. Hawkeye draws Cora aside to talk to her, and Uncas and his father prepare to leave. Duncan is angry again. He has been angry ever since this journey began. He speaks of cowards, but Alice feels for a moment that he does not understand. None of them do, really. Chingachook gestures for his son to follow him.

Uncas looks at her for a long moment. Alice is too far gone to see. At the last second, before he plunges into the roaring water, she looks up and catches his gaze. Seconds pass like hours, and she feels a deep sadness. She doesn't know if she'll ever see him again, and it worries her. But the darkness is too strong, and she returns to her mind, the only place that is truly safe.

After a long moment, he is gone.

The Huron burst into the cavern after that, killing Duncan's fellow soldiers and taking the rest of them captive. Chaos reigns all around her, but she does not see it. She is alone in her mind, where nothing and no one can reach her. She is tied up, in an unfamiliar Native camp, her sister and Duncan bound next to her. People are speaking all around her, in English and French and a Native tongue, but she does not register any of their words. She does not even know that she has been sentenced until she is grabbed by the arm and toted like baggage.

Up and up and up she goes, until the trees look like specks beneath her and the Native village disappears. She looks at the view, eyes vacant and blank. She doesn't even notice when Uncas appears, fighting Huron after Huron to get to her.

Her guards leave her side to engage the Mohican, and she starts, noticing him for what seems like the first time. His gaze is focused, and he fights with a single-minded purpose: to save her. He has cuts on his arms, and blood is soaking his shirt. She tries to go forward, to go to him, but she is shoved back by a Huron: forced to watch the scene play out in front of her. It doesn't seem real.

The Native- Hawkeye and Duncan called him Magua, she dimly recalls- pulls Uncas' head around, so that his neck faces the edge of his knife. The knife flashes once. Magua lets go.

And Uncas falls.

The cliff is too high up, and she doesn't hear when his body hits the ground. Shaking, she moves towards the edge, her gaze fixed on the spot where he fell. Magua turns. Faces her. The sun glints off his knife, red with blood. Uncas's blood.

She looks at him fearlessly. This in itself surprises her. She has never been fearless. It was always Cora who was the brave one, Cora who stood up and protected her. Cora the strong, Alice the weak. But Cora is gone, now, and Alice will most likely never see her again. Cora cannot save her from her fate. Cora cannot shield her from her fear.

But now, standing at the edge of a cliff in the New World, she has no fear. Something flickers across her captor's eyes as he gazes into hers. She looks away, at the ground below her and the sky above her. She notices that the sky is beautiful.

Magua holds out his hand, expression indescribable. Something has softened in him. His eyes do not hold the same cruel glint they once did, and when she looks at him she knows that if she goes with him, she will live. If she takes his hand, still stained with Uncas's blood, she will be spared. She looks down over the cliff, looking for a head of black hair and a blue shirt. They lie broken at the bottom, never to move again. A choice lies before her. Magua gestures at her to step away from the edge.

She remembers the look Uncas gave her, as he plunged into the waterfall. _I will find you_, it said. _Wait for me_. So she did, and her reward was being helpless as he was run through. She looks again at his broken body. So beautiful, even in death.

_I will find you. Wait for me, even in death._

She makes her decision. Away from the safety of Magua's grasp, she falls.

And the dream ends.

* * *

**Author's Note:** This ended up in a place different than I had originally intented. It ended up encompassing all of the movie (at least that parts with Alice). Out of all the characters in the movie, I felt that Alice was the least developed, and therefore the most interesting. She was unprepared for the frontier, and it broke her, and she spent most of the movie inside her own mind. Also, the relationship between Alice and Uncas was woefully underplayed, so I tried to add a little more into that as well. I included the cut scenes from the script, and I cut out the parts that didn't interest me, meaning most of the rest of the movie. Hope people like it! 


End file.
